Red Goral (Naemorhedus baileyi)

How many Red goral (Naemorhedus baileyi) does Shanghai Zoo currently keep and are they breeding?

@UngulateNerd92 I saw five during my visit. The zoo mentioned that they kept 9,2 in a livestream back in 2020. The population has plummeted in recent years, down from 23 animals in 2016. With an extreme sex ratio and the fact that the latest news of breeding I find dates back to 2017, the future of this species in captivity does not look very promising…

@Ding Lingwei thank you, I appreciate the information. 23 animals down to 5 animals in a period of seven years. That really sounds like a rapid decline! I am sorry to hear that. Do you know what might be causing this decline? Anything about the species biology or any mistakes the zoo is making regarding husbandry? Being listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, Red goral are definitely a species that need a captive/ex-situ assurance population.

@UngulateNerd92 Just to clarify, the gorals were techinically behind the scenes and the five animals I saw happened to be kept in a part that a regular visitor could get a peek of, so the actual number could be anywhere between 5 and 11. Neverthless, a more than 50 percent decline in three years is still alarming. According to Ma (2021, in Chinese), the captive population had already shown a downward trend before 2016, from a peak of around 30 animals in 2013. The paper didn't specifiy how it went into an accelerating spiral in recent years, but apparently the population has suffered from extreme sex ratio for quite some time. A lack of breeding age females causes not only low birth rate but also more deaths from fighting between males. Diarrhoea is also listed as a top cause of death, though no details are given. Since it's almost impossible to acquire new animals from the wild under current law, we will probably see the inevitable end of the 40-year-old program if things don't turn around very soon.

@Ding Lingwei thank you for this information. I greatly appreciate it! again, I am sorry to hear about their situation, especially being that a 40-year program might come to an end. The legislation that makes it more difficult to source animals from the wild, how long has that been around? Also, what might the plausibility be of establishing a captive breeding group at a facility (or establishing a facility), adjacent to their native habitat?

40 years ago, where did Shanghai Zoo source their Red goral from? Also, which other Chinese zoos keep and breed them currently, if any?

@UngulateNerd92 Shanghai Zoo is the only holder. The seven founders (3,4) were caught in Mainling County, Nyingchi in Southeastern Tibet between 1982 and 1983. The zoo sent an expedition team back then to collect these animals. The first wildlife protection law of PRC passed in 1988. For a Class I species like red goral, any removal of an animal from the wild needs a special license approved by the department of wildlife administration under the State Council. Shanghai have sent their animals to other zoos in the past (including Rotterdam) but all attempts to establish a second population failed. There's a N. baileyi × griseus hybrid left in Beijing Zoo.

@Ding Lingwei Thank you for sharing this with me. Were any other animals collected on that expedition or was this only for the Red gorals? I remember hearing about Rotterdam Zoo's animals, remind me how many animals were sent to Rotterdam and their sex ratio? Besides Shanghai Zoo and Beijing Zoo, which other Chinese zoos kept them in the past and when?

@UngulateNerd92 I've heard they also got Mishmi takins but couldn't find any source to prove that... Btw Mr. Zhang Cizu, former director of Shanghai Zoo and leader of the expedition, was probably also the first one to photograph a red goral in the wild.

@UngulateNerd92 Shanghai sent two males to Rotterdam in 1992 and one female in 1995. The female was killed by a takin shortly upon arrival. Besides Shanghai and Beijing, the other two former holders are Guangzhou Zoo and Chimelong Safari Park, both located in Guangzhou. Beijing and Guangzhou Zoo got their animals in the 90s, and Guangzhou kept this species as late as in 2005 (here is a picture of red goral in Guangzhou in Zooinstitute: Naemorhedus baileyi / Red goral in Guangzhou Zoological Garden). Chimelong also held red gorals in the early 2000s.